Jason Aldean, Chris Stapleton and Keith Urban are also nominated for Entertainer of the Year at the 2018 CMA Awards. It's not clear how many of the nearly 60 artists polled actually voted for the award in an official capacity, but even if all did, it's but a small sampling of the thousands of votes cast each year. According to the CMA Awards website, there are more than 7,400 eligible members.

Stapleton has the most CMA nominations for the Nov. 14 ABC broadcast. His seven top Aldean, Urban, Thomas Rhett and Miranda Lambert, who have four apiece. If Bryan wins, it'd be his third CMA Entertainer of the Year snag, following wins in 2014 and 2015. Chesney has won four times, Urban once Aldean and Stapleton zero times. All of the above artists are slated to perform at the 52nd-annual show.